Australian Tunes 2
-
Upload
jean-rene-grupallo -
Category
Documents
-
view
223 -
download
0
Transcript of Australian Tunes 2
7/28/2019 Australian Tunes 2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/australian-tunes-2 1/8
This ‘Swag of Treasures’ results mainly from some
remarkable research undertaken by David De Santi
and Jane Brownlee in the folklore archives of the
National Library of Australia. Inaugural recipients in
2004 of a Folk Fellowship offered jointly by the
National Library of Australia and the National Folk
Festival, Jane and Dave have pursued their infectious
journey of discovery of Australian traditional dance
tunes hidden amidst thousands of hours of Australia’s
recorded folklore history.
From the 1950s collectors such as John Meredith
used the portable tape recorder–and camera–to
capture otherwise untapped or hidden memories and
experiences of Australian social life. These rich
archival sound recording collections are preserved and
made available by the National Library, which
maintains an active field recording program to
document community traditions played at diverse
social gatherings. During their Fellowship, Jane and
Dave had unfettered access to the collections that form
the raw material for this publication. By their ownadmission, they were staggered to discover an
astonishing array of largely unknown gems or variant
versions of songs and dances. Australians, it seemed,
had relatively little knowledge, understanding or sense
of value of their own inheritance!
This publication thus depicts the past and enlivens
the present: recreating the past whilst generating a
living tradition. The original sources of the music and
dances of previous generations, whether performed
‘at home’ on the verandah, in local community halls
or by itinerant dance bands, are here captured in this“swag of tunes”. The sources date back often a century
or more. Yet, in meticulously transcribing these
recordings from a wide range of collections, Jane and
Dave have aimed to keep alive these traditions by
documenting these tunes in notated form for
performance use. This publication accompanies their
own sound recordings of dance tunes, re-arranged
into sets for dancing.
We hope that the inspiration of their journey of
discovery generates further research into the nation’s
rich folklore collections and keeps alive for generationsto come the experiences and joy of lives enriched by
singing and dancing.
Robyn Holmes , Curator of Music, National Library of Australia
A sample of tunes from the forthcoming:
Swag of Treasures - Australian Traditional Dance Tunes Volume 2A selection of tunes suitable for dance music. The book is due by end of April 2006 and will be available from
Trad&Now for $30 - buy online from www.tradandnow.com or call 02 4225 3792.
The book will include over 100 tunes, a number of articles and instructions to a number of bush dances.
Compiled by Jane Brownlee and David De Santi following on from their work as part of the 2004 National Library of
Australia Folk Festival Fellowship.
"I’ll give you another tune Rob” is a common
comment from the older musicians we record for the
National Library of Australia. They give a gift of music,
not only to we collectors as individuals but also to
anyone else who wants it. Without exception all of
the musicians I have recorded over the past 25 years
have been happy to ‘give’ me a tune and encourage
that it be shared with others. My mentor, folklore
collector John Meredith, also made me aware of the
importance of sharing both his personal and collectedmusic. “Sharing the Harvest” was his term.
But how do we do this? How do we create an
awareness of the sometimes forgotten musical
treasures that the National Library contains? How
do we keep on ‘giving’?
A major contribution toward this has been the
incredible enthusiasm and musical ability of David
De Santi and Jane Brownlee. For many years David,
and later Jane have been to the fore with the
dissemination of traditional music both in book and
CD form.
The gaining of the first National Library/National
Folk Festival Fellowship gave the duo an opportunity
to investigate many of the undiscovered instrumental
treasures in the National Library collection and add
to their vast repertoire, and also ‘give’ these tunes
back to contemporary musicians.
David and Jane are fortunate that they come from
a variety of musical experience. Both have a
background of traditional music – Dave with his
multicultural and Jane being raised with the old-timedance band influences of her mum Bev. Jane’s
musical/academic background along with David’s
interest in traditional Australian music and publishing
skills has resulted in this important tune book
Congratulations to you both for your dedication,
uncovering the ‘Swag of Treasures’ in the National
Library collection and most importantly being part of
the ‘giving’ process.
Rob Willis
Folklore Collections, National Library of Australia
INTRODUCTION
7/28/2019 Australian Tunes 2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/australian-tunes-2 2/8
Sampler from A Swag of Treasures - Australian Traditional Dance Tunes Volume 2
7/28/2019 Australian Tunes 2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/australian-tunes-2 3/8
Sampler from A Swag of Treasures - Australian Traditional Dance Tunes Volume 2
7/28/2019 Australian Tunes 2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/australian-tunes-2 4/8
Sampler from A Swag of Treasures - Australian Traditional Dance Tunes Volume 2
7/28/2019 Australian Tunes 2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/australian-tunes-2 5/8
Sampler from A Swag of Treasures - Australian Traditional Dance Tunes Volume 2
7/28/2019 Australian Tunes 2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/australian-tunes-2 6/8
Sampler from A Swag of Treasures - Australian Traditional Dance Tunes Volume 2
7/28/2019 Australian Tunes 2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/australian-tunes-2 7/8
Sampler from A Swag of Treasures - Australian Traditional Dance Tunes Volume 2
7/28/2019 Australian Tunes 2
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/australian-tunes-2 8/8
Sampler from A Swag of Treasures - Australian Traditional Dance Tunes Volume 2